Hello. I would like to thank the people who took the time to review and like my first fanfiction. It really means a lot to find fans who still remember Digimon Tamers from 20 years. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Without further due, here is the second chapter of this fanfiction.
For this second chapter and possibly the next chapter, I will be using time skips mostly because the anime has already provided them. I would highly recommend you watch it if you are confused with the time skips. If you need a reference, most of it will be in episode 28.
Disclaimer Reminder: I do not own Digimon or the characters. I just like telling the story.
Ryo
Life in the digital world was definitely different from the human world. When Cyberdramon and Ryo came out of the digital portal, there was nothing but wind, sand, and rocks for miles around. The whole area looked like a deserted, rocky wasteland like the ones on earth. There were differences though.
In the sky above, there was no sun but a giant, bluish globe of the human world that was spitting out pink beams to the ground or from afar. This world still had day and night, but Ryo could only tell when the sky started to darken or brighten in a split second. Instead of tumbleweeds blowing through like in the cowboy movies, they were pinkish, purple orbs. Ryo tried touching one of them and the little thing shocked him like static electricity. Cyberdramon briefly explained that they were old packets of data and pretty much harmless. Lastly, there were these pillars of light that fell and moved around the area.
Turns out, they were data streams that transported everything it touched into different areas of the digital world. And there were a lot of different areas. Ryo and Cyberdramon even got transported due to the data streams for their first days here. It was not recommended to use this method of transport to travel around. The data streams were completely random. Who knows where someone could end up? There were so many different areas and environments.
One area was similar to the area Ryo first entered into the digital world, but it had crazy sandstorms and winds that could send a human adult flying into the air. Some other areas looked like beautiful forests with luscious trees, strong vegetation, and freshwater sources that sparkled under the digital light. There were even some areas that absolutely made no sense at all with the laws of science.
One area had clouds floating on it with some rocky areas and gears moving about that felt like the inside of an antique clock. Weirdly enough, they also had actual clocks as well, but they were broken since the ticker kept getting stuck in the same place. Ryo tried to fix one of them, and it did not go well. Let's just say there was a destructive battle, and Cyberdramon was calm for a whole week. The boy had to break the clock again.
Another area had buildings that were way out of proportion. The structures, windows, and doors were positioned at different angles. The whole scenery looked like it belonged in an art museum. There were also these scarecrow-like Digimon called Nohemon that stood in the middle of the road. They were probably just there to scare people. At least there were beds here.
The first few weeks of traveling the digital world were a little rough for Ryo, but he learned the environment here. The boy just had to avoid data streams as much as possible unless it was an emergency. Turns out, other passages lead to other areas that were more manageable and less random. It was just a matter of finding them or in other cases not accidentally stepping on them like a pitfall.
Finally, after about 7 months of being stuck here, Ryo managed to learn most of the ins and outs of the digital world. Unfortunately thanks to some of the harsh environments and battles here, some of his clothes were getting worn out. Ryo couldn't wear his black jacket anymore, so he retrofitted it into leggings and a partial shirt accessory. In one of the areas with a lot of scrap metal and spare parts, the boy made a metal shoulder guard for his right shoulder and chrome and red gauntlet to place on his right forearm. He also found a Digimon who was kind enough to give him a pair of gloves for the rest of his journey. Lastly, he took out a long, red handkerchief and tied it around his neck like a short scarf. Decked out with his new attire, he looked ready to take on any challenges that came his way.
In retrospect, most of his challenges involved his partner: Cyberdramon. The Digimon almost always gets into fights. Whenever the black-armored Digimon saw or even sensed a battle going down, he would rush right in there Desolation Claws ready. It was fine against Digimon who wanted to destroy him and Ryo, but some fights were completely unnecessary. One time, Cyberdramon wanted to join in a fight due to two in-training level Digimon fighting it out. The tiny squirts were so scared when he showed up that they ran like scared children calling him a tyrant and bully. The tamer never felt so embarrassed before.
Ryo even lost count of how many times he had to use his D-ark's whip function to calm his partner down. They were supposed to be finding his true enemy, not making new ones! After about months of being together, he managed to convince Cyberdramon to not go into low-level battles and only fight if it was challenging for him. Although there were still some cases of uncontrolled fighting, it was at least to the point where Cyberdramon would only battle ultimate or higher-stage Digimon.
Despite his partner's extreme craving for battle, Ryo was glad to have the battle maniac by his side. Although he wasn't much of a talker, his presence gave Ryo a reassuring feeling. The boy knew that Cyberdramon would keep him safe.
When they were in actual battle, there was always this understanding between them like when they battled MetalTyrannomon. Once Ryo gave a one-word command or card slash, Cyberdramon would know what to do and execute without further inquiry. If it came to battle senses, they were one of the strongest duos out there. Despite their savage nature and appearance, Cyberdramon always battled flawlessly.
Ryo did wonder about something. He had a hunch that when a Digimon usually digivolved to their later stages thanks to their tamer, they would usually de-digivolve after their energy was used up or after a while. Cyberdramon was the exception. During the months of traveling, the ultimate seldom de-digivolved back to Monodramon. The only time his partner did revert to his rookie form was under special circumstances like going to places that were too big.
Another instance is when Cyberdramon used so much of its energy after an extremely fierce battle, it reverted to its rookie form. Luckily the battle is over before reverting or the enemy would annihilate them. Ryo asked his partner about it one time, and he replied that this form was more convenient for them in the digital world in case of any ambushes.
The Digimon also said that he had boundless energy inside of his body. He didn't know how or where this energy was coming from. Cyberdramon only knew that he had it, and the almost limitless amount of energy assisted him in Digimon battles, especially against strong opponents.
Ryo could attest to that. There was one battle where Cyberdramon decided to take on three ultimates at once. It was intense. They managed to destroy them due to Ryo's battle tactics and his proper timing using his goliath card. Even after that, Cyberdramon still wanted to battle and was already looking for his next opponent. Ryo was surprised. Where did his partner get all of this energy from?
Now knowing Cyberdramon better, he just went with the flow and got used to his partner's endless rage of fighting. Ryo did have a feeling. Wherever or whatever this energy and fighting is coming from, the boy had a feeling that it had something to do with the ultimate enemy. This enemy of Cyberdramon was always shrouded in mystery. Even after all this traveling and battling, his partner showed no indication of his location. All they could do was explore more areas and find any clues.
It's been around 10 months since Ryo has been traveling in the digital world with Cyberdramon. They were currently walking through the clock area and were looking for another entrance to a different area. The boy couldn't help but sigh. They have been traveling here for so long, but still haven't explored every part of the digital world. Just how vast was this place!
Then, his partner Digimon started growling.
"Cyberdramon, What's wrong?" Ryo asked. If his partner was like this, it meant fighting.
"I sense a battle coming," The Digimon replied and growled. Suddenly, all of the gears around the area stopped moving.
"Oh no," Ryo thought. If the gears stopped moving in the area, it meant only one thing. Someone messed with one of the small clocks. The gears around the area were the only thing that was preventing strong Digimon from appearing through the clouds. It was dangerous to mess with the gears of this place, but who could have done it? He knew the local Digimon in the area wouldn't have messed with the clocks.
Soon, the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance. The boy immediately ran toward the battle with his partner. When arriving, he saw a purple-winged dragon-like Digimon with metal gauntlets and hands battling what looked like a nine-tailed yellow fox. It was Megadramon and a new Digimon Kyuubimon that Ryo saw on a card for the last Digimon set card release.
Megadramon: An ultimate-level dragon virus Digimon. Its main attacks are Dark Side Attack and Parry Force. The dragon was like a living airborne multi-missile striker and could decimate a small town to rubble.
Kyubimon: A mystical animal champion-level Digimon. Its special attacks were Dragon Wheel and Fox Tail Inferno. The way this Digimon attack was graceful and elegant, but powerful all the same.
The battle was pretty fierce, but it looked like Megadramon had a clear advantage in terrain and level in this fight. In the distance, Ryo could see other bystanders watching the battle. The first two were Digimon: Clockmon and Hagurumon. He was acquainted with them somewhat last time he was here. It was the others that surprised him. They were kids around his age. Humans children, other than him, were here in the digital world.
There were three of them. The first was a light brown-haired boy who wore a visor. The second was a black-haired boy with glasses. Last, was a girl with red hair worn in a spiky ponytail. She had a D-ark in her hand meaning Kyubimon was her partner. It wasn't Megadramon due to the massive environmental damage he was causing around him. The dragon was probably attacking due to the rumor that loading a tamer's Digimon will allow one to go to the digital world. Some Digimon tried to do the same thing to Cyberdramon. It did not end well for them.
Looking at the three kids, Ryo couldn't help but feel like he knew them from somewhere, especially the girl. He just couldn't put his finger on it and continued to stare at them.
[Dark Side Attack] Megadramon's metal gauntlets opened up after evading Kyubimon's dragon wheel attack. Multiple organic missiles shot out from them. All of them were aiming and attacking Kyubimon at point-blank range. Explosions rang out causing the sky to be filled with smoke. The fox-like Digimon fell from the smoke.
"Kyubimon!" The girl yelled running to her Digimon. Ryo snapped out of his thoughts. Right now, those people were in trouble, and they needed his help!
"Cyberdramon, go just don't-," Ryo didn't even finish before his partner flew off claws ready to attack Megadramon. The boy couldn't help but let out a sigh. He bet that his partner didn't even listen and ran closer to the battlefield to run interference.
[Time Skip- After the battle with Megadramon]
"Alright, we should stay here for the night and set up camp;" Ryo said. It's been about an hour since the battle with Megadramon. Judging from how long it has been daytime, the boy knew the night was about to fall in a few minutes. He turned to his new companions. "We need to gather firewood."
"Um, Mr. Ryo sir," The black-haired kid with glasses spoke up respectfully. "We're in the clouds."
"Again, please call me Ryo and it'll still work. The digital world's rules run differently than the real world," The tamer then explained the rules here don't follow the human world sometimes like in this cloud area. Clouds here aren't made of evaporated water and gas, but data. They could still make a fire here with the appropriate materials. The boys' eyes shined like they just heard the coolest thing in the world.
"We will still need to gather the material for the fire. There are some old, discarded wooden clock parts and gears in the area. We just need to find them, so we need to spread out and find them. Ummm..," Ryo stared at his companions. He didn't know their names.
The two boys noticed this and started to speak up.
"I'm Hirokazu Shiota!" The brown-haired boy with a tennis visor on his head said. He wore a black T-shirt with a stylized cross, yellow-cream shorts, reddish brown wristbands, olive green socks, and blue and gray shoes.
"I'm Kenta Kitagawa!" The black-haired boy with the glasses spoke next. He wore an orange T-shirt under an open short-sleeved button-up shirt, light brown shorts, white socks, and light gray shoes with light blue laces and soles.
Ryo nodded his head acknowledging their names. From their last conversation, the boy knew these two guys were big fans of his from the previous card tournaments before entering the digital world. Looking at them right now, he could clearly tell they were still excited to see him in person. Ryo then turned to look at the third person: the girl.
She had red hair and styled it into a spiky ponytail. The girl wore a white T-shirt with short sky blue sleeves, came with a yellow turtleneck, and a dark blue broken heart on the front, with short button-fly blue jeans, red wrist bands, white socks, red steel-toed sneakers, and buckles around her waist and left leg.
Out of the three people, this girl was the person Ryo was most interested in. Seeing as she still hasn't introduced herself, the boy decided to say something. "And your name?"
The girl just turned her head to the right staring into the distance of clouds and gears. She replied rudely. "And why should I tell you?"
Her companions looked at her in shock and started to call her name, but the girl gave them both dagger eyes effectively shutting them up. Her partner Digimon looked at her curious about the situation.
"I guess it's okay. It doesn't matter if I don't know your name. I will call you something else like 'Omae (You)!' or 'Hey Girl!" Ryo couldn't help but let out a smile. "Would you like me to call you that?"
The girl snapped her head right back to Ryo, glaring at him. It was a look that he knew full well she did not want to be called that. Ryo just shrugged while still smiling. He didn't know what else to call her if he didn't know her name. The girl, knowing she lost this verbal confrontation, spoke quietly. "Ruki... Ruki Makino."
"Ruki huh so that is her name" Ryo subconsciously thought while feeling a little happy about this small victory in teasing.
"Alright, now that pleasantries are out of the way. We still need to gather things for the fire and split up in different directions. Ruki, why don't you go-" Ryo didn't even get to finish before the girl just walked in a random direction with her Digimon ignoring the rest of what he had to say. The boy was temporarily at a loss for words.
"Don't mind her too much," Hirokazu said. "She acts like this most of the time."
"Oh, okay..." Ryo then pointed Hirokazu's and Kenta's directions to go look for firewood, before Ryo went on his own. While looking and gathering the wood, the boy had his first impression of Ruki: A stubborn girl.
Soon, everyone came back with wood piled in the center, and not a moment too soon since it was already dark. "Everything's ready. Now to start the fire. It will just take me a few minutes"
"Kyubimon," Ruki looked at her partner Digimon.
[Fox Tail Inferno] The fox Digimon pointed one of her nine tails at the pile of wood and shot out a blue ball of flame. Red flames instantly roared to life, warming the surrounding area.
"Or you could do that,'' Ryo thought, looking at Ruki already sitting near the fire and putting her back on the fur of her partner. He took the spot across the fire from her with Cyberdramon right beside him. Hirokazu and Kenta sat in between them. Once everyone was comfortable, Ryo decided to ask the question.
"So how did you guys get here?"
[Time skip - Night Conversation and Ruki leaving]
It was daylight again in the digital world. The fire was put out, and the gang was ready to leave the clock area but without Ruki. Ryo couldn't help but stare off into the distance in the direction of where she walked away last night. It finally clicked why she looked so familiar.
Ruki was his opponent during the finals at the Digimon Worlds Card Exhibition. Although hearing about her getting a second place was a huge clue, what made him finally remember was her back silhouette as she walked away. It was the same walk when she left the tournament.
Ryo couldn't believe he forgot about her. Actually, he could believe it. The boy spent most of his months trying to survive the digital world and that was after going through his first Digimon battle and finding out that Digital Monsters were real. It made a card tournament kind of insignificant.
To be honest, Ryo wasn't surprised that Ruki became a tamer and had the title: the Digimon queen when he left. Her Digimon card skills were incredible and had a certain beauty to them. If the competition was the same as last year then no one would be her match. It took everything Ryo had just to beat the girl then. If she was the Digimon queen though, would that make him the king? The legendary tamer inwardly chuckled at that.
Still, Ryo couldn't help but worry about Ruki even if she had a powerful Digimon like Kyubimon by her side. The digital world was still a dangerous place. It was survival to the fittest here.
"If you're worried about her, don't be," Hirokazu said, snapping Ryo out of his thoughts. "Ruki may be obnoxious sometimes, but she's tough. If anyone can survive in the digital world by themselves, it would be her. Even I have to admit that about her."
Hirokazu was right. Even though this place was dangerous, Ryo had a feeling that she was going to be alright. After all, the boy already had his second impression of her: An extremely stubborn girl. He probably couldn't stop her even if he tried.
"Let's head out then," Ryo said, looking at the two younger boys. They responded with a salute. Their eyes shined like they were looking at a hero. The tamer could only just smile and lead the way.
While walking out of the area, Hirokazu and Kenta started talking about their other companions and their Digimon. There was their goofy friend Takato, pacifist but intelligent Jian, and optimistic Juri along with their respective partners Guilmon, Terriermon, and Leomon. Ryo listened attentively as the trio and Cyberdramon walked to their next destination.
[Last Time skip - Children and their partner Digimon are about to return to the Real World]
"Ruki! Ruki!" yelled Ryo. He was mid-air on Cyberdramon trying to find Ruki in the middle of a sandstorm. The children finally found a way back to the real world, but the girl left an hour before the appointed time. Renamon, her Digimon partner, said she needed to find someone before leaving, so she took off with her tamer.
The transport called the Ark arrived on time, but no signs of Ruki and Renamon. It also brought a sandstorm. When the Ark was about to take off, Ryo decided to find her before then. The storm would probably mess with their sense of direction, and they would need a proper guide to lead them back in the right direction.
Wind and sand blew everywhere blocking anyone's sight. Ryo was beginning to lose hope until he saw a shadow coming toward him. Bursting through the wind was a yellow fox with a girl on her back.
"Thank goodness," Ryo felt relieved upon seeing Ruki and her Digimon partner. The pair landed right in front of them.
"Ryo, what are you doing here?" Ruki asked. "Please tell me there is still time for us to go home."
"Yes, but we have to hurry. The Ark is about to take off." Ryo notices a purple imp-like Digimon in her arms. Is that the reason why she left? "Who's that?"
Ruki looked down at the Digimon, and her eyes softened. "He's a friend who needs help. I want to take him with us."
Ryo gave Ruki a deep look, suddenly remembering what happened in their last battle. In a deep cavern pit where Calumon was imprisoned, a new enemy, the D-reaper, was about to erupt and erase him and his friends until the girl and Renamon dove straight into the middle of it. She evolved into the mega-level Digimon and temporarily stopped the big blob's advances.
She saved her friends and now she's helping another one at the cost of her only chance of going home. Ryo could tell that the little guy might not have a good relationship with the others, since she and Renamon didn't say why they left. But she still went anyway. For someone who was so sarcastic and stubborn, Ruki had a kind heart. This was Ryo's fourth impression of her. His third was the girl's extreme sarcasm.
"Ryo! This is not the time to be blanking out!" shouted Ruki pulling the boy out of his thoughts. "We need to hurry and go before our ride leaves and frankly, the idea of being stuck here in a raging storm because of you isn't very appealing at the moment."
"Good to see that you still have such great people skills, Ruki," Ryo chuckled, earning him a glare from the girl. "Hey, don't give me that look. I just came out into this storm to look for you and help."
"I didn't ask you to do that!" Ruki answered back fiercely.
"Well okay. I guess we can just stay here and let the Ark leave. We will be stuck here for who knows how many more months, Maybe years." Ryo started smirking and then added. "Alone. With me."
The stare Ruki gave got angrier and was about to tell him they will find their way until she felt Kyubimon's prodding. "Ruki please, we don't have time for this."
Kyubimon was right. Every second there was the possibility of the Ark leaving them. For now, Ruki swallowed her pride, looked up at Ryo, and said reluctantly. "Lead the way."
"Come on, let's go." The legendary tamer said earning himself another winning point in teasing the girl.
Cyberdramon then flew back in the direction they came from with Ruki and Kyubimon trailing behind. Ryo hoped that it wasn't too late. He also missed his family and wanted to return to the real world. Soon, the boy could see a clearing and some shadows through the wind. Ryo started yelling as Cyberdramon and Kyubimon broke through the final wind barrier.
Finally, with no sand blocking his vision, he could see his google headed friend Takato on the ground looking at them while the Ark was in mid-air with its other passengers like it was waiting for them. There was still time.
Ruki grabbed Takato's hand as Kyubimon jumped through the entrance of the Ark. Ryo followed suit with Cyberdramon. Although the landing could use work, everyone was accounted for. The Ark resumed its course. They were going home.
So how did you guys like Chapter 2? Remember to please let me know through your reviews! Until the next chapter!